Trump aide on Russian oil waiver: 'Indians have been good actors'
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a post on X Friday that the United States is “allowing our friends in India” to take the Russian oil already on ships around Southern Asia
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that America has given “permission” to India to buy Russian oil that is already on ships floating on waterways, to ease global supplies amid the conflict in West Asia.
“The world is very well supplied in oil. Yesterday, the Treasury (Department) agreed to let our allies in India start buying Russian oil that was already on the water,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business on Friday (March 6).
'Permission' to accept Russian oil
“The Indians had been very good actors. We had asked them to stop buying sanctioned Russian oil this fall. They did. They were going to substitute it with US oil. But to ease the temporary gap of oil around the world, we have given them permission to accept the Russian oil. We may unsanction other Russian oil,” he said.
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Bessent added that there are hundreds of millions of sanctioned barrels of sanctioned crude on the water, and in essence, “by unsanctioning them, Treasury can create supply. And we are looking at that. We are going to keep a cadence of announcing measures to bring relief to the market during this conflict.”
Several other Trump administration officials have also been saying that the US has now allowed India to buy Russian oil, months after President Donald Trump had imposed 25 per cent punitive tariffs on Delhi for its purchases of oil from Moscow.
Short-term measures
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a post on X Friday that the United States is “allowing our friends in India” to take the Russian oil already on ships around Southern Asia, refine it and move the stocks into the market quickly in order to ensure a flowing supply and ease pressure amid the ongoing US-Israel war against Iran.
"We have implemented short-term measures to help keep oil prices down. We are allowing our friends in India to take oil that is already on ships, refine it, and move those barrels into the market quickly. A practical way to get supply flowing and ease pressure,” Wright said.
(With agency inputs)